How San Gabriel is run
Who runs San Gabriel, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from San Gabriel's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs San Gabriel
A city manager hired by the council runs the city day to day. The council sets policy, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
- 3% raise on June 27, 2026, under the fourth amendment to his employment agreement
- City health benefit contribution of up to $1,700 a month
- City health benefit contribution of up to $1,700 a month
San Gabriel city staff
205 full-time-equivalent positions, including Police 73, Fire 37. FY2026-27. Authorized full-time positions, unchanged from the year before. City of San Gabriel · Jun 2, 2026
The city posts a salary schedule with pay steps for every job, plus its labor agreements. We did not pull pay bands from the State Controller's database. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is San Gabriel in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $0 (2025-06-30). That means every dollar the general fund has saved is set aside in a named reserve or category, not that it has no savings. City of San Gabriel · Jan 29, 2026
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Transfers in (mostly the voter-approved pension property tax)$11.5M · 19%
- Sales taxes (state 1% share and Measure SG)$10.3M · 17%
- Property tax$8M · 13%
- Property tax in lieu of vehicle license fees$7.2M · 12%
- Utility users tax$5.8M · 10%
- Fees and charges for services$4.2M · 7%
- Licenses and permits$3.6M · 6%
- Hotel tax (transient occupancy)$3.4M · 6%
- Other (franchise fees, business license tax, fines, interest, other)$5.2M · 9%
- From reserves (fund balance)$635,000 · 1%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$24.5M · 41%
- Fire and paramedics$14.7M · 25%
- Public works$5.5M · 9%
- Community development (planning, building, code enforcement)$3.1M · 5%
- Community services (recreation, Mission Playhouse)$2.5M · 4%
- Finance$2.2M · 4%
- Non-departmental (animal control, county tax fee, contingency)$1.8M · 3%
- Other (council, administration, clerk, attorney, human resources, transfers out)$5.5M · 9%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Of each property-tax dollar, about 19 cents goes to the city: its share of the 1% base levy plus the 0.14% tax voters approved in 1948 to pay for city pensions. Homes in other school districts (Alhambra, Garvey, Rosemead, Temple City) pay those districts' bond rates instead.
19¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of San Gabriel
- Other agencies' share of the 1% base levy (county, schools, special districts)0.89363 · 70%
- City of San Gabriel (share of the 1% base levy)0.10637 · 8%
- City of San Gabriel (voter-approved 1948 pension tax)0.14 · 11%
- San Gabriel Unified School District (bonds)0.10202 · 8%
- Pasadena Area Community College District (bonds)0.02434 · 2%
- Metropolitan Water District0.007 · <1%
- Total (% of assessed value)1.27336
FY2024-25 rates for a home in the San Gabriel Unified School District area (Los Angeles County). City of San Gabriel · Jan 29, 2026
See what a San Gabriel home costs each year, line by line →Who provides your services
Not everything in San Gabriel is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe citySan Gabriel Police DepartmentCity of San Gabriel
- FireThe citySan Gabriel Fire DepartmentCity of San Gabriel
- SewerThe cityCity of San Gabriel Public WorksCity of San Gabriel
- StormwaterThe cityCity of San Gabriel Public WorksCity of San Gabriel
- City streetsThe cityCity of San Gabriel Public WorksCity of San Gabriel
- Street sweepingContractorAthens ServicesCity of San Gabriel
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of San Gabriel Community ServicesCity of San Gabriel
- Building, planning and code enforcementThe cityCity of San Gabriel Community DevelopmentCity of San Gabriel
- Mission Playhouse (historic theater)The cityCity of San Gabriel Community ServicesCity of San Gabriel
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | MonroviaCA | San GabrielCA | CalexicoCA | Culver CityCA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 39,094 | 39,838 | 39,881 | 40,730 |
| Top administrator's base pay | $280,716 | $282,096 | $220,000 | $370,000 |
| Council member pay | $15,300 | $10,724 | Not confirmed | $15,135 |
| General fund per resident | $1,668 | $1,504 | $623 | $5,042 |
| Debt per resident | $3,753 | $39 | $995 | $384 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $971 | $2,082 | $919 | $7,687 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | 6.1 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 21.2 |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).
What San Gabriel publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe did not find the employment agreement or its amendments on the city's salary or labor agreement pages. The salary schedule states his pay. City of San Gabriel
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member online City of San Gabriel
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineThe Agenda Center posts agendas and minutes; council meetings can be viewed on the city's YouTube livestream. City of San Gabriel
- Yes: Council pay stated in a public documentThe city salary schedule lists council pay of $893.70 a month; Ordinance 724 raises it to $1,275 after the November 2026 election. City of San Gabriel
Questions to ask your council
- Police and fire take $39.3 million of the $59.9 million general fund budget for FY2026-27. How are their response times and staffing reported to the council?
Help decide what comes next
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